So Unexpected
by Kranna 25
Summary: When Prince Rasler goes to fight in the war, he doesn't expect his feelings for his wife, Ashe, to betray him for someone else. “Uh…Prince Rasler, sir, I don’t seem to have a towel...” Yaoi.


Disclaimer : I don't own Final Fantasy XII or it's characters.

Author's Notes : I'm sorry if Rasler seems sorta out of character. But this was written at about 3:00am and I was high on chocolate. So yeah, who knows what Rasler was really like anyway? He was only in the game for about 5 minutes! So, anyway, enjoy!

So Unexpected

When I had agreed to go and help out with the war, I didn't expect to fall in love there. After all, I had been happy with my wife, Ashelia, whom I had recently married. And the battlefield wasn't exactly the ideal place for romance. But there was someone at the camp who was different, special. Someone with whom I could talk to about things that Ashe would never understand. And this was someone I would never forget. His name was Reks.

We had met that day on the obstacle course. I watched as the other soldiers went through the obstacle course with ease.

"Next!" Captain Basch called out. Reks stepped nervously up to the obstacle course. The Captain nodded for him to proceed. Reks began running through the course, jumping over the jumps with a little bit of difficulty. I couldn't blame him, though. He was the youngest and the shortest of all the men. When he came to the last obstacle, he tripped and fell into the mud, his arms skidding on the sticks and rocks protruding from the ground. I held back a gasp, and started to run to his side.

"Are you alright?" I started to say, but Basch was already at the boy's side, asking him the same thing.

"Y-yeah…" the boy answered, embarrassedly. Basch nodded and returned to his position beside Captain Azelas. I heard a few of the soldiers chuckle at the sight of Reks lying there in the mud. Furious at their behavior, I bent down beside Reks and held out my hand to him.

"Are you sure you're alright?" I asked, gently. He looked up at me, realizing who it was that was offering him help.

"…Yeah, r-really, I'm fine," he answered, reluctantly taking my hand. I helped him to his feet and then we headed back to line. I glanced over at him. His face was pink and the front of his slim body was covered in mud. When he thought no one was looking, he took a quick glance down at his bleeding arms and sighed. Little did he know that I was watching him, and that I could almost feel his pain.

"Time to hit the showers!" Captain Basch called out. The soldiers all headed in a line towards the shower room, I followed as well. But I couldn't help but notice that Reks was lagging behind, his arms still bleeding slightly. I wanted to say something to him, but I didn't know exactly what it was I wanted to say. Or even why I wanted to talk to him at all. We stood in line, waiting for our turn to shower. There were two showers in the room, therefore two people showered at once. I heard two men down the line whispering and laughing amongst themselves. The silver-haired boy looked uneasy. Finally, it was my and Reks' turn. I followed him into the room and pulled the curtain across. I took off my clothes and turned on the shower. Reks hesitantly stripped off all his clothes, and I couldn't help but take a quick peek when he stepped into his shower. He was beautiful. Every muscle in his stomach was so perfectly defined. I watched as his soft-looking hands tried to wash away the blood from his arms. I was so busy watching him, that I had almost forgotten to wash myself. I then grabbed a bar of soap and began trying to distract myself with washing off my already fairly clean body. My eyes traveled in Reks' direction again when I saw him run his fingers through his long wet hair. I let my eyes start to wander down the boy's body, but he turned off the shower before I could get a good look. I shook my head, wondering what was wrong with me. I was a married prince and I was acting…perverted. Reks began looking around and I soon realized what the two soldiers outside had been laughing about. They had stolen Reks' towel.

"Um…Captain?" he called out, but there was no response except for the stifled laughs of the soldiers outside the room.

I turned off my shower as well.

"Is everything okay?" I asked him.

"Uh…Prince Rasler, sir, I don't seem to have a towel," he said, his cheeks turning flushed again, doing his best to hide behind his hands.

"Please, just call me Rasler," I answered, throwing him my towel.

"Thanks. But what about you?" he asked.

"It's fine. I'll just put these clothes back on. They're not too dirty," I answered.

"Okay, thanks again," he said, wrapping the towel around his waist.

When we emerged from the shower room, the two soldiers looked as if they had just swallowed bugs. I looked disapprovingly at them as I walked back to the cabin area with Reks. It sickened me to think that they found amusement in torturing the poor boy. And it seemed to me that Reks already had some painful memories in his mind somewhere.

"Reks, you will be staying in a cabin with Lord Rasler," Captain Azelas announced. Reks looked shocked.

"What? Excuse me, sir, but do you really think I should? I mean, shouldn't Prince Rasler have a cabin of his own?" he asked.

"Well, I-" Vossler started, but I interrupted.

"It's fine with me if I share a cabin. And remember, just call me Rasler," I smiled. Reks looked as if he was going to argue some more, but then he dropped his head down and decided to say no more. Captain Azelas pointed out our cabin to us and we proceeded there in silence.

"This is it, I suppose," I said, as we entered the shabby cabin. I wasn't complaining though. It almost seemed as if fate had brought Reks and I together. Reks changed into an old t-shirt and shorts and began washing out his muddy clothes in the sink.

"Do you want some help?" I asked, coming up behind him. He looked up and I saw his reflection in the mirror. I was surprised to see that he was crying.

"No, I'm f-fine," he said, wiping a tear away from his cheek.

"Are you sure? Do you want to talk about it?" I asked.

"No, it's okay," he answered, looking back down at the clothes he was washing.

"Hey," I said, gently, tilting his head up towards me. "It's okay. We can talk. I don't mind."

"…Okay," he agreed, placing the clothes down in the sink.

We walked over and sat down on the bed.

"Now, what's wrong?" I asked.

"I just don't understand… Why are the other soldiers doing this?"

"I don't know. I don't understand it either."

"It's the same thing at home. People always picked on me because I was insecure. But my brother, he always stood up for me," he explained, a sad smile appearing on his face.

"You have a brother?"

"Yes. Vaan. He's only fifteen years old, and I'm really worried about him."

"Won't he be okay?"

"I don't know. You see, our parents died a few years ago. He doesn't know how to take care of himself. We take better care of each other than we do of ourselves," he told me.

"I see. So, you're worried about him? And those other soldiers aren't making things any easier for you, are they?" I asked.

Reks shook his head and let another tear trickle down his cheek. I brushed the tear away and he looked up at me.

"I'll tell you what. I won't let those soldiers bother you anymore. I can order them to stop. And as for your brother, I know how you feel. I have a wife back at home whom I worry about. And no doubt she is worried for my safety as well. The same goes for you and your brother, I presume?" I asked.

"Yes. You understand quite well, Prince Rasler."

"Just Rasler, remember? Anyway, Reks, right? We never got properly introduced to each other."

"Yes, my name's Reks."

"I like that name."

"Thank you. Your name is nice too."

"Reks… I feel like I can trust you. And I want to tell you about something that has been irritating me for a while," I said.

"Okay."

"I'm… I'm not sure if I'm happy with my wife, with Ashelia," I said, surprising even myself that I had told that to Reks.

"Really? But I thought you were. People were saying that even though it was an arranged marriage, you two were really in love," Reks said, his eyes still shimmering with tears.

"I thought we were. And I was in love with her for a while, but my feelings began to fade away, almost to nothing. I know how devastated she would be if she knew. But I just wish I knew what real love felt like."

"What do you mean? Real love?"

"I might be mistaken, and I might regret this later, but I think I might love you, Reks," I stuttered out.

"You what?" he asked, looking as if he might have heard incorrectly.

"I think I might love you."

"…How do you know?"

"Because, I felt horrible when you fell today. And I just have a feeling that I want to be around you," I confessed.

"…You do?" he asked, staring at the bed.

"I think so…" When Reks didn't answer, I decided to change the subject.

"Do you want me to wrap your arms for you?" I asked, grabbing some wraps from a table in the cabin.

"O-okay…" he answered, uncertainly. I wondered if I had done the wrong thing by telling him how I felt. But as I began wrapping up the cuts on his arms, he started leaning in against me, resting against my body. I felt his warmth and continued to wrap. When I had finished, he placed a hand on mine. I just barely heard him whisper something.

"Please… don't stop…"

"Pardon?" I asked.

"Don't stop," he repeated.

"But your arms are wrapped now."

"Well, don't let me go. I don't want to feel alone," he whispered, closing his eyes and letting two more tears drip down his face. I brushed them both away and leaned towards him. Our lips met for a brief moment and then we pulled apart. Reks looked away nervously. I tilted his head back towards me.

"It's okay," I told him. He nodded, and we pressed our lips together again. Reks tried to get as close to me as he could, eventually knocking me backwards. He lay on top of me, his head on my chest, still crying slightly.

"Why are you still crying?" I asked.

"I just don't want you to leave me. I've never felt this happy since I left home, and I don't want it to end. If you go, then I don't know how I can go on."

I ran my hand through his hair.

"Don't worry," I said. "I'll never leave you."

The arrow plunged into my throat and I felt serious pain. I could hardly breathe and within seconds, I could feel life starting to drain from me. But even as darkness started to take over my vision, I could still sense light. I pictured Reks holding me in his arms, holding my hand as my energy drifted away. I could see him crying at the sight of the arrow embedded in my neck. I struggled to reach my head up one last time, just to kiss his lips. But I never made it that far. I could picture my grasp on his hand loosening, and one of his tears landed on my cheek as I died. Little did I know that we would be meeting again soon in the FarPlanes.

A/N : Yeah, little FFX reference there about the FarPlanes. Please read and review. Hope you liked it. Wasn't too confident in this fic.


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